


Light in Disguise

by ironmessTM



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Endings, F/M, Season 1 Finale, Self-Sacrifice, Unnamed in fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 20:30:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironmessTM/pseuds/ironmessTM
Summary: So basically, I took the events of the season one finale, (which were heart-wrenching), basically when Fitz and Jemma are trapped in the cube at the bottom of the ocean and Jemma is still knocked out, and just sort of...wrote my take on it, I guess? I mean, that's how fanfic works, I don't think I need to explain it haha.In the fic, neither of them are actually named, so if you'd like, you can pretend that the two of them are another couple of the corresponding gender pronouns.This is angstier in a different way than some of my other work, but I don't know, I hope you enjoy it, and as always, I hope it makes you feel something. I don't know that this is as edited as it should be, but regardless, hopefully it came together okay.Thank you :-)





	Light in Disguise

As he stared out the window into the deep, seemingly never-ending abyss that surrounded them, and his solemn eyes, red-rimmed with moisture, drifted down to the sleeping girl beside him…he knew what he needed to do. Somehow, he felt he’d always known. He sat, watching over the girl he’d never been able to admit he loved, in a cube at the bottom of the ocean, because in this moment, he could be nowhere but at her side, and he wanted to be nowhere else. He took in her lovely features, the faint but steady rising and falling of her chest, and he could almost imagine her heartrate. He knew he could always, always rely on her to be there for him, and that now, it was his turn to prove the same.

He clutched his broken arm close to him, just barely resisting the urge to gently stroke his fingers over the nape of her neck, to let himself feel the curve of her smooth, pronounced cheekbones. Instead, he busied himself by trying to figure a way out of here. To see if this truly was the end, or if fate had yet to have its last word. 

After all, surely, there is no such thing as the end, is there?

He found that he could think of no way out, no way to escape the circumstances forced upon them. He felt it with a subtle pang in his chest that…if anyone, she probably could. His sweet, lovely, dearest friend in the world, the person who completed him and the person he knew would never need him to complete her. The person who had stood by his side loyally, as the utmost and nearly only caring friend for years. He refused to let himself think about the man who had put them there, the man whose fault this entire situation had been. The man who’d betrayed the both of them. They’d thought he was their friend; he’d even saved her life before. But it was all a lie, and he…he conceded to focus on one seemingly unsolvable issue at a time.

He needed to focus on what was more pressing, right now; saving her. Doing what he needed to do.

He’d dug through everything stored in the metal cube of sorts in which they were trapped, and found little more that was useful to escape than a small reserve of oxygen. It had enough for one large breath, but not much more. He’d run the calculations over, and over, and over, but every single time, he got the same result, and sooner than he thought, the chilling reality of their situation sank in, washing over him and slowly sinking in.

There was only enough for one.

He looked back at her, her motionless form on the ground next to him. His breath hitched, and he shuddered to think of what this might do to her. But he knew that it was right, that it was a far better alternative to the only other option.

She would be, she _had_ to be the one to take the oxygen.

He didn’t know if she’d come to hate him for it, but all he knew was that…he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he took a chance at life from her. He knew the risks; hypoxia, permanent brain damage, even if his body, in defiance of the odds, managed to survive. Either way…he’d be dead. He’s never coming back from this. Unless her brilliance finds a way to give them a miracle, and assuming they can even get out of here and not slowly die of malnourishment and suffocation on the bottom of the ocean floor…this is what needs to be done. For her. For everything more that she can contribute to the world, for giving at least one of them a fighting chance to move on, to live again. He…he knew he’d never truly be able to live again. He knew that when the darkness took him, it would hurt, but that it was for a good reason, that it was worth it. He knew that this was a sacrifice he needed to make, for both her and himself. He knew that it was selfish and selfless in equal measure, but he didn’t care. All he knew for sure…was that he loved her. And that he always would.

He let his mind wander, wondering what would be awaiting him on the other side, when it occurred to him and when he found that peace...was finally in sight. That a death at her side, a death or a life worse than that to spare her one…perhaps it was worth it. To keep her safe, to keep her happy.

Because, perhaps when the blackness takes him...he’ll come to realize that it’s actually just a light in disguise.


End file.
